I am living my dream – going to school…in LONDON! I find myself in tears at least once a day, for having been given this opportunity by FSU. This weekend, we were to visit the British Museum on our own. I managed to focus on … well, our focus, and stuck to looking for nine objets d’art within the same color scheme. If you know me, you know I chose black. There was plenty of stuff that had blackened with time, but I had to include two items because they spoke to me—make that screamed at me: “Carolyn, you must use that object.”
I don’t have time or space here to elaborate on each image; I would if I could. If there’s one you’re particularly interested in, post a comment here and I’ll get back to you with details. Here are a few notes….
In Eqypt I sat down opposite four statues of the goddess Sakhmet (middle top row). I had to laugh out loud when my camera protested that it detected a “blink” - please, stop helping me!
The third row holds my favourites. I adore the ‘Brunhilde’ helmet! If I sang opera…. The middle middle is what made me cry. I have always felt an affinity towards Thalia, the muse of comedy. Coming upon her by chance on the top floor took my breath away. I firmly believe there are no coincidences, so she took center stage
And finally, may I have the envelope, please? The . . . Rosetta . . . Stone…. The stone inscribed in demotic (which was the common tongue), Greek, and hieroglyphs, the last undecipherable until the discovery of this stone. Thanks to this slab of rock, Eqyptologists were finally able to deconstruct hieroglyphics.
The chance to have these experiences is what sustains me here. While the work is exhilarating, it’s a HUGE responsibility, with two to three assignments of work due every day. If I run into a technical issue, it doesn’t matter how hard I’ve been applying myself. My laptop just stopped working. I’m in tears as I write this, down in the computer lab, where I hope I will be able to piecemeal together everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish. I feel lonely and frightened and frustrated, but I’m trying hard to have faith that if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, there are more invaluable experiences…and challenges…yet ahead of me.
Love your collection and the musing behind them. Sorry about your laptop-believe and know that everything happens for a reason. The universe needed you to go a different course-exhausting at times but there is always, always, always a silver lining-we just need to see it. Maybe it was the goddess of comedy challenging you!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn--
ReplyDeleteYou can do it--always remember that. You are taking part in a experience that comes once in a lifetime. Think of all the stories you'll be telling us when you return!!